Insights

No one likes to pay more for things. Breaking news, right? And as inflation continues to make headlines, a growing worry amongst consumers takes hold.

There are half as many public companies today as there were in 1999 as more and more companies elect to stay private for longer.

The traditional 60/40 portfolio. Old reliable. Taught in business schools and economic classes for decades.

Ah yes, active vs. passive investing. A cornerstone debate topic at just about every level of financial services with opinions flying every which way.

The way investors value their investments has begun to evolve. For many, it's no longer just about profitability, they also want their money to make a positive impact on society and the world.

2017 was a great year for U.S. stocks. Large caps returned nearly 22%, while small caps returned nearly 15%. Nobody complained about those returns. But do you know which asset had an even better year? International stocks.

Vanguard founder Jack Bogle started the debate of active versus passive investing when he created the first index fund in 1975. Hundreds of additional index funds, countless studies, and one historic recession later, passive investing has become a household concept and is accepted as the preferred method of investing for millions of investors.

Toward the end of every year, many publications provide a list of year end tax planning ideas. These articles often suffer from not discussing the exceptions to the advice given. It is difficult to give advice that will apply to most taxpayers in a limited amount of space.

In December 2017, I wrote a Forbes blog, entitled Upper-Income Taxpayers Can Benefit From the Standard Deduction: What You Need to do Now, in which I described the new tax planning opportunities for upper income taxpayers due to the larger standard deduction beginning in 2018.